Bird Flu Is Here

From Stephanie Feldstein, Population and Sustainability Program Director

Environmentalists have long warned that pandemics will result from mass-producing meat and dairy. As Senior Food Campaigner Jennifer Molidor lays out in her recent op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle, the H5N1 bird flu spreading in animals across the continent highlights the problems of factory farming, which opens the floodgates to the spread of pathogenic disease through habitat destruction and intensive confinement.

The number of human cases has been increasing, too. While there are no confirmed cases of bird flu spreading between people, we’ll be in real trouble if and when it does. To avoid another pandemic, we need to shift away from factory farms, build a secure food system, and protect public health with science-based decision-making. Read on to learn more about choosing healthier school food, sustainability in the dietary guidelines, and shopping for last-minute secondhand gifts.

Crowded Planet: Researchers have found that mountain lions living near Los Angeles are becoming increasingly nocturnal to avoid interacting with people recreating in the mountains. The findings show how mountain lions have adapted to share habitat with people and how people affect mountain lions in ways other than urban sprawl and vehicle strikes.

Shop Secondhand for Last-Minute Gifts

The height of December gift-giving is just days away, but the push to find presents doesn’t have to come with the waste and other environmental woes caused by the season’s rampant consumerism. As Center organizer Malia Becker explains in an op-ed in the Minnesota Star Tribune, secondhand shopping for holiday gifts saves money, strengthens the local economy, and supports the planet by extending the life of used items and preventing the resource extraction necessary to make new stuff.

If you’ve got some last-minute shopping to do this holiday season, take a page from Malia’s book and shop secondhand. “I’ll be hunting through mugs, vintage jewelry and lamps this December,” she says. “Secondhand items will help my budget go further while still allowing me to find high-quality gifts.”

Here’s one thing you can do: Still looking for last-minute gifts? Check out our wildlife-friendly gift guide.

Sustainability in the Dietary Guidelines

The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee just released its scientific report to guide the development of the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The report recommends, among many other things, reducing meat consumption and prioritizing plant-based proteins like beans, peas and lentils.

These recommendations are good news for our health and the planet. A new Center analysis

shows that making dietary changes advantageous to the planet, like swapping half the meals served through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National School Lunch Program from beef to beans, would produce nearly 49% less greenhouse gas pollution from those meals.

Here’s one thing you can do: Tell the USDA that the climate can’t wait — sustainability should be integrated into the guidelines now.

Choosing Healthier School Food

Earlier this year the USDA released an update to child-nutrition meal patterns that tightened sugar and sodium restrictions while clarifying procedures and rules for serving nondairy milks. These important meal pattern updates open the doors to more climate-friendly school meals. But some schools may not know that these changes have been made or how they allow more plant-based foods.

To help get the word out, the Center worked in coalition to create handouts that help parents, students and schools better understand these important changes. The documents, Six Changes USDA Made to Help Schools Serve More Plant-Based Foods, Your Right to Request a Substitute for Cow’s Milk at School, and A Guide for Food and Nutrition Services to Navigate Requests for Cow’s Milk Substitutes, were created to be shared with school officials and others in your community.

Here’s one thing you can do: Read about the environmental impacts of school food on our Take Extinction Off Your Plate website.

Podcast: Environmental Justice Is Reproductive Justice

Bridging the reproductive health and environmental movements is a core component of our work. Center organizer Malia Becker joined SisterSong’s podcast to talk about environmental justice and how environmental racism is harming communities and families. SisterSong is the nation’s largest multiethnic reproductive justice collective and a leader of the reproductive justice movement.

Listen in as Malia chats with podcast host Simran Jain about topics like how environmental justice specifically impacts communities of color and relates to birthing outcomes and raising children. And check out the SisterSong podcast archives for insightful and fun conversations about a wide range of reproductive justice issues.

Here’s one (more) thing you can do: Watch last year’s Center webinar to hear a panel discussion about having children in the age of climate change.

Earth-Friendly Wedding Ring Ideas

The holidays are a popular time to pop the question. If you’re gearing up to do just that, make sure your wedding ring doesn’t come with an extra cost to wildlife. Mined gemstones like diamonds wreak havoc on the planet because of the deforestation, pollution and habitat loss caused by mining.

Thankfully, there are many alternatives to a traditional brand-new diamond ring. Our latest post on the Wildlife-Friendly Wedding Blog lays out a list of wildlife-friendly alternative ring options your partner and the planet will love.

Here’s one thing you can do: If you’re planning a wedding or hosting an event, check out our Wildlife-Friendly Wedding Guide for advice on how to make your event easier on the planet.

Wildlife Spotlight: Tule Elk

Tule elk grazed the Point Reyes peninsula for about 10,000 years until they were eliminated by ranchers and hunters in the late 1800s. These magnificent animals were thought to be extinct in California, but from a remnant herd they’ve now been reintroduced around the state. Tule elk returned to Point Reyes in 1978, but a two-mile fence — designed to keep them from neighboring dairy and cattle ranches — prevented the elk from moving freely and cut them off from critical water sources.

After immense pressure from the public, the Center, and allies — including tens of thousands of comments from supporters like you — the National Park Service recently announced that the elk-killing fence at Point Reyes National Seashore will be removed. Now the largest herd at the national seashore will be allowed to roam free and thrive.

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Photo credits: Dairy cows in header via Canva; mountain lion via National Park Service; man secondhand shopping via Canva; healthy school lunch on tray via Canva; F*ck, Marry, Kill Podcast banner by SisterSong Women of Color RJ Collective; earth-friendly wedding ring via Canva; beans via Canva; tule elk at Point Reyes National Seashore by Jennifer Molidor/Center for Biological Diversity.

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